wine information

With a degree in business from California State University, Los Angeles, Christina Coulourides went to work for one of the largest specialty wine retail chains in the world. She acquired a thorough, top-to-bottom understanding of the wine business. Then, in 1981, she began working for one of Califor­nia’s finest “old guard” restau­rants, selecting wines for… read more »

Things certainly are looking good for us WOMC enthusiasts in 1992! I would never have imag­ined that Paul could find two love­ly Pinot Noirs within such a short period of time (seven months), es­pecially considering the price class of most Pinot Noirs. The last one was Tony Austin’s 1988 (#691A) sent last June. That was… read more »

The southern part of Bur­gundy, France plays host to many famous communes and townships: Notably Pouilly Fuisse, Macon, and St. Veran. The town of Clesse is a sleepy french commune, its only real attraction, aside from the wine of course, being an 11th cen­tury church with an octagonal tow­er. The basic red grape of the… read more »

The Benziger family moved to Glen Ellen California in 1980 from White Plains, New York to set up a boutique winery. The rest is truly California wine making history. The 1981 crush came before construction of the winery was fin­ished. There was no electricity. There were no wine storage tanks. The crush went on through… read more »

Note: Please do not confuse the wine maker Inglenook-Napa Valley with the jug wine maker Inglenook-Navale. Founded in 1879, the Ingle­nook-Napa Valley winery was the hobby of the great seaman Gustave Niebaum. Not only a diligent student, re­ceiving his ships papers by attend­ing merchant marine school in Fin­land, he was a brilliant businessman. At age… read more »

The Vina Los Vascos winery lies sheltered in its own private vit­icultural paradise, the 4900 acre Caneten Valley, about 90 miles south of Santiago, in Chile’s cli­matically-endowed Colchagua re­gion. Don Pedro Gregorio Eche­nique, a knight of the Order of Santiago, built the winery in 1750. It has stayed in his family ever since. The soil,… read more »

Matt and Nancy Santino, along with Nancy’s father, Joseph Schweitzer, founded Santino Wines in 1979. Mr. Schweitzer remained as owner when the younger couple left the operation some time ago. The winery is located in the heart of California’s Shenandoah Valley in Amador County, adjacent to the oldest known producing Zinfandel vineyard in California. This… read more »